'No, sir; the truth is, that of late I have been very much occupied with
various matters, otherwise I should, perhaps, have been able to afford
you some information. Boxing is a noble art.'
'Can you box?'
'A little.'
'I tell you what, my boy; I honour you, and, provided your education had
been a little less limited, I should have been glad to see you here in
company with Parr and Whiter; both can box. Boxing is, as you say, a
noble art--a truly English art; may I never see the day when Englishmen
shall feel ashamed of it, or blacklegs and blackguards bring it into
disgrace! I am a magistrate, and, of course, cannot patronize the thing
very openly, yet I sometimes see a prize-fight. I saw the Game Chicken
beat Gulley.'
* * * * *
One day it happened that, being on my rambles, I entered a green lane
which I had never seen before; at first it was rather narrow, but as I
advanced it became considerably wider; in the middle was a driftway with
deep ruts, but right and left was a space carpeted with a sward of
trefoil and clover; there was no lack of trees, chiefly ancient oaks,
which, flinging out their arms from either side, nearly formed a canopy,
and afforded a pleasing shelter from the rays of the sun, which was
burning fiercely above. Suddenly a group of objects attracted my
attention. Beneath one of the largest of the trees, upon the grass, was
a kind of low tent or booth, from the top of which a thin smoke was
curling; beside it stood a couple of light carts, whilst two or three
lean horses or ponies were cropping the herbage which was growing nigh.
Wondering to whom this odd tent could belong, I advanced till I was close
before it, when I found that it consisted of two tilts, like those of
waggons, placed upon the ground and fronting each other, connected behind
by a sail or large piece of canvas, which was but partially drawn across
the top; upon the ground, in the intervening space, was a fire, over
which, supported by a kind of iron crowbar, hung a cauldron. My advance
had been so noiseless as not to alarm the inmates, who consisted of a man
and woman, who sat apart, one on each side of the fire; they were both
busily employed--the man was carding plaited straw, whilst the woman
seemed to be rubbing something with a white powder, some of which lay on
a plate beside her. Suddenly the man looked up, and, perceiving me,
uttered a strange kind of cry, and the next moment both the woman and
himself were on their feet and rushing upon me.
I retreated a few steps, yet without turning to flee. I was not,
however, without apprehension, which, indeed, the appearance of these two
people was well calculated to inspire. The woman was a stout figure,
seemingly between thirty and forty; she wore no cap, and her long hair
fell on either side of her head, like horse-tails, half-way down her
waist; her skin was dark and swarthy, like that of a toad, and the
expression of her countenance was particularly evil; her arms were bare,
and her bosom was but half-concealed by a slight bodice, below which she
wore a coarse petticoat, her only other article of dress. The man was
somewhat younger, but of a figure equally wild; his frame was long and
lathy, but his arms were remarkably short, his neck was rather bent, he
squinted slightly, and his mouth was much awry; his complexion was dark,
but, unlike that of the woman, was more ruddy than livid; there was a
deep scar on his cheek, something like the impression of a halfpenny. The
dress was quite in keeping with the figure: in his hat, which was
slightly peaked, was stuck a peacock's feather; over a waistcoat of hide,
untanned and with the hair upon it, he wore a rough jerkin of russet hue;
small clothes of leather, which had probably once belonged to a soldier,
but with which pipe-clay did not seem to have come in contact for many a
year, protected his lower man as far as the knee; his legs were cased in
long stockings of blue worsted, and on his shoes he wore immense
old-fashioned buckles.
* * * * *
Because they have been known to beg the carcass of a hog which they
themselves have poisoned, it has been asserted that they prefer carrion
which has perished of sickness to the meat of the shambles; and because
they have been seen to make a ragout of boror (snails), and to roast a
hotchiwitchu or hedgehog, it has been supposed that reptiles of every
description form a part of their cuisine. It is high time to undeceive
the Gentiles on these points. Know, then, O Gentile, whether thou be
from the land of the Gorgios or the Busne, that the very Gypsies who
consider a ragout of snails a delicious dish will not touch an eel,
because it bears resemblance to a snake; and that those who will feast on
a roasted hedgehog could be induced by no money to taste a squirrel, a
delicious and wholesome species of game, living on the purest and most
nutritious food which the fields and forests can supply. I myself, while
living among the Roms of England, have been regarded almost in the light
of a cannibal for cooking the latter animal and preferring it to
hotchiwitchu barbecued, or ragout of boror. 'You are but half Rommany,
brother,' they would say, 'and you feed gorgiko-nes (like a Gentile),
even as you talk. Tchachipen (in truth), if we did not know you to be of
the Mecralliskoe rat (royal blood) of Pharaoh, we should be justified in
driving you forth as a juggel-mush (dog man), one more fitted to keep
company with wild beasts and Gorgios than gentle Rommanys.'
* * * * *
One fact has always struck us with particular force in the history of
these people, namely, that Gitanismo--which means Gypsy villainy of every
description--flourished and knew nothing of decay so long as the laws
recommended and enjoined measures the most harsh and severe for the
suppression of the Gypsy sect; the palmy days of Gitanismo were those in
which the caste was proscribed, and its members, in the event of
renouncing their Gypsy habits, had nothing farther to expect than the
occupation of tilling the earth, a dull hopeless toil; then it was that
the Gitanos paid tribute to the inferior ministers of justice, and were
engaged in illicit connection with those of higher station and by such
means baffled the law, whose vengeance rarely fell upon their heads; and
then it was that they bid it open defiance, retiring to the deserts and
mountains, and living in wild independence by rapine and shedding of
blood; for as the law then stood they would lose all by resigning their
Gitanismo, whereas by clinging to it they lived either in the
independence so dear to them, or beneath the protection of their
confederates. It would appear that in proportion as the law was harsh
and severe, so was the Gitano bold and secure.
* * * * *
Many of them reside in caves scooped in the sides of the ravines which
lead to the higher regions of the Alpujarras, on a skirt of which stands
Granada. A common occupation of the Gitanos of Granada is working in
iron, and it is not unfrequent to find these caves tenanted by Gypsy
smiths and their families, who ply the hammer and forge in the bowels of
the earth. To one standing at the mouth of the cave, especially at
night, they afford a picturesque spectacle. Gathered round the forge,
their bronzed and naked bodies, illuminated by the flame, appear like
figures of demons, while the cave, with its flinty sides and uneven roof,
blackened by the charcoal vapours which hover about it in festoons, seems
to offer no inadequate representation of fabled purgatory.
* * * * *
It has always struck me that there is something highly poetical about a
forge I am not singular in this opinion: various individuals have assured
me that they can never pass by one, even in the midst of a crowded town,
without experiencing sensations which they can scarcely define, but which
are highly pleasurable. I have a decided penchant for forges, especially
rural ones, placed in some quaint, quiet spot--a dingle for example,
which is a poetical place, or at a meeting of four roads, which is still
more so, for how many a superstition--and superstition is the soul of
poetry--is connected with these cross roads! I love to light upon such a
one, especially after nightfall, as everything about a forge tells to
most advantage at night, the hammer sounds more solemnly in the
stillness, the glowing particles scattered by the strokes sparkle with
more effect in the darkness, whilst the sooty visage of the sastramescro,
half in shadow, and half illumined by the red and partial blaze of the
forge, looks more mysterious and strange. On such occasions I draw in my
horse's rein, and seated in the saddle endeavour to associate with the
picture before me--in itself a picture of romance--whatever of the wild
and wonderful I have read of in books, or have seen with my own eyes in
connection with forges.
* * * * *
A sound was heard like the rapid galloping of a horse, not loud and
distinct as on a road, but dull and heavy as if upon a grass sward,
nearer and nearer it came, and the man, starting up, rushed out of the
tent, and looked around anxiously. I arose from the stool upon which I
had been seated, and just at that moment, amidst a crashing of boughs and
sticks, a man on horseback bounded over the hedge into the lane at a few
yards' distance from where we were; from the impetus of the leap the
horse was nearly down on his knees; the rider, however, by dint of
vigorous handling of the reins, prevented him from falling, and then rode
up to the tent. ''Tis Nat,' said the man; 'what brings him here?' The
new comer was a stout, burly fellow, about the middle age; he had a
savage, determined look, and his face was nearly covered over with
carbuncles; he wore a broad slouching hat, and was dressed in a grey
coat, cut in a fashion which I afterwards learnt to be the genuine
Newmarket cut, the skirts being exceedingly short; his waistcoat was of
red plush, and he wore broad corduroy breeches and white top-boots. The
steed which carried him was of iron grey, spirited and powerful, but
covered with sweat and foam. The fellow glanced fiercely and
suspiciously around, and said something to the man of the tent in a harsh
and rapid voice. A short and hurried conversation ensued in the strange
tongue. I could not take my eyes off this new comer. Oh, that
half-jockey half-bruiser countenance, I never forgot it! More than
fifteen years afterwards I found myself amidst a crowd before Newgate; a
gallows was erected, and beneath it stood a criminal, a notorious
malefactor. I recognised him at once; the horseman of the lane is now
beneath the fatal tree, but nothing altered; still the same man; jerking
his head to the right and left with the same fierce under-glance, just as
if the affairs of this world had the same kind of interest to the last;
grey coat of Newmarket cut, plush waistcoat, corduroys, and boots,
nothing altered; but the head, alas! is bare and so is the neck. Oh,
crime and virtue, virtue and crime!--it was old John Newton I think, who,
when he saw a man going to be hanged, said: 'There goes John Newton, but
for the grace of God!'
* * * * *
After much feasting, drinking, and yelling, in the Gypsy house, the
bridal train sallied forth--a frantic spectacle. First of all marched a
villainous jockey-looking fellow, holding in his hands, uplifted, a long
pole, at the top of which fluttered in the morning air a snow-white
cambric handkerchief, emblem of the bride's purity. Then came the
betrothed pair, followed by their nearest friends; then a rabble rout of
Gypsies, screaming and shouting, and discharging guns and pistols, till
all around rang with the din, and the village dogs barked. On arriving
at the church gate, the fellow who bore the pole stuck it into the ground
with a loud huzza, and the train, forming two ranks, defiled into the
church on either side of the pole and its strange ornaments. On the
conclusion of the ceremony, they returned in the same manner in which
they had come.
Throughout the day there was nothing going on but singing, drinking,
feasting, and dancing; but the most singular part of the festival was
reserved for the dark night. Nearly a ton weight of sweetmeats had been
prepared, at an enormous expense, not for the gratification of the
palate, but for a purpose purely Gypsy. These sweetmeats of all kinds,
and of all forms, but principally yemas, or yolks of eggs prepared with a
crust of sugar (a delicious bonne-bouche), were strewn on the floor of a
large room, at least to the depth of three inches. Into this room, at a
given signal, tripped the bride and bridegroom, dancing romalis, followed
amain by all the Gitanos and Gitanas, dancing romalis. To convey a
slight idea of the scene is almost beyond the power of words. In a few
minutes the sweetmeats were reduced to a powder, or rather to a mud, the
dancers were soiled to the knees with sugar, fruits, and yolks of eggs.
Still more terrific became the lunatic merriment. The men sprang high
into the air, neighed, brayed, and crowed; whilst the Gitanas snapped
their fingers in their own fashion, louder than castanets, distorting
their forms into all kinds of obscene attitudes, and uttering words to
repeat which were an abomination. In a corner of the apartment capered
the while Sebastianillo, a convict Gypsy from Melilla, strumming the
guitar most furiously, and producing demoniacal sounds which had some
resemblance to Malbrun (Malbrouk), and, as he strummed, repeating at
intervals the Gypsy modification of the song.
* * * * *
The English Gypsies are constant attendants at the racecourse; what
jockey is not? Perhaps jockeyism originated with them, and even racing,
at least in England. Jockeyism properly implies _the management of a
whip_, and the word jockey is neither more nor less than the term
slightly modified, by which they designate the formidable whips which
they usually carry, and which are at present in general use amongst horse-
traffickers, under the title of jockey whips. They are likewise fond of
resorting to the prize-ring, and have occasionally even attained some
eminence, as principals, in those disgraceful and brutalizing exhibitions
called pugilistic combats. I believe a great deal has been written on
the subject of the English Gypsies, but the writers have dwelt too much
in generalities; they have been afraid to take the Gypsy by the hand,
lead him forth from the crowd, and exhibit him, in the area; he is well
worth observing. When a boy of fourteen, I was present at a prize-fight;
why should I hide the truth? It took place on a green meadow, beside a
running stream, close by the old church of E---, and within a league of
the ancient town of N---, the capital of one of the eastern counties. The
terrible Thurtell was present, lord of the concourse; for wherever he
moved he was master, and whenever he spoke, even when in chains, every
other voice was silent. He stood on the mead, grim and pale as usual,
with his bruisers around. He it was, indeed, who _got up_ the fight, as
he had previously done twenty others; it being his frequent boast that he
had first introduced bruising and bloodshed amidst rural scenes, and
transformed a quiet slumbering town into a den of Jews and metropolitan
thieves. Some time before the commencement of the combat, three men,
mounted on wild-looking horses, came dashing down the road in the
direction of the meadow, in the midst of which they presently showed
themselves, their horses clearing the deep ditches with wonderful
alacrity. 'That's Gypsy Will and his gang,' lisped a Hebrew pickpocket;
'we shall have another fight.' The word Gypsy was always sufficient to
excite my curiosity, and I looked attentively at the new-comers.
I have seen Gypsies of various lands, Russian, Hungarian, and Turkish;
and I have also seen the legitimate children of most countries of the
world; but I never saw, upon the whole, three more remarkable
individuals, as far as personal appearance was concerned, than the three
English Gypsies who now presented themselves to my eyes on that spot. Two
of them had dismounted, and were holding their horses by the reins. The
tallest, and, at the first glance, the most interesting of the two, was
almost a giant, for his height could not have been less than six feet
three. It is impossible for the imagination to conceive anything more
perfectly beautiful than were the features of this man, and the most
skilful sculptor of Greece might have taken them as his model for a hero
and a god. The forehead was exceedingly lofty,--a rare thing in a Gypsy;
the nose less Roman than Grecian,--fine yet delicate; the eye large,
overhung with long drooping lashes, giving them almost a melancholy
expression; it was only when the lashes were elevated that the Gypsy
glance was seen, if that can be called a glance which is a strange stare,
like nothing else in this world. His complexion was a beautiful olive;
and his teeth were of a brilliancy uncommon even amongst these people,
who have all fine teeth. He was dressed in a coarse waggoner's slop,
which, however, was unable to conceal altogether the proportions of his
noble and Herculean figure. He might be about twenty-eight. His
companion and his captain, Gypsy Will, was, I think, fifty when he was
hanged, ten years subsequently (for I never afterwards lost sight of
him), in the front of the jail of Bury St. Edmunds. I have still present
before me his bushy black hair, his black face, and his big black eyes
fixed and staring. His dress consisted of a loose blue jockey coat,
jockey boots and breeches; in his hand was a huge jockey whip, and on his
head (it struck me at the time for its singularity) a broad-brimmed high-
peaked Andalusian hat, or at least one very much resembling those
generally worn in that province. In stature he was shorter than his more
youthful companion, yet he must have measured six feet at least, and was
stronger built, if possible. What brawn!--what bone!--what legs!--what
thighs! The third Gypsy, who remained on horseback, looked more like a
phantom than anything human. His complexion was the colour of pale dust,
and of that same colour was all that pertained to him, hat and clothes.
His boots were dusty of course, for it was midsummer, and his very horse
was of a dusty dun. His features were whimsically ugly, most of his
teeth were gone, and as to his age, he might be thirty or sixty. He was
somewhat lame and halt, but an unequalled rider when once upon his steed,
which he was naturally not very solicitous to quit. I subsequently
discovered that he was considered the wizard of the gang.
I have been already prolix with respect to these Gypsies, but I will not
leave them quite yet. The intended combatants at length arrived; it was
necessary to clear the ring,--always a troublesome and difficult task.
Thurtell went up to the two Gypsies, with whom he seemed to be
acquainted, and with his surly smile, said two or three words, which I,
who was standing by, did not understand. The Gypsies smiled in return,
and giving the reins of their animals to their mounted companion,
immediately set about the task which the king of the flash-men had, as I
conjecture, imposed upon them; this they soon accomplished. Who could
stand against such fellows and such whips? The fight was soon over--then
there was a pause. Once more Thurtell came up to the Gypsies and said
something--the Gypsies looked at each other and conversed; but their
words then had no meaning for my ears. The tall Gypsy shook his
head--'Very well,' said the other, in English, 'I will--that's all.'
Then pushing the people aside, he strode to the ropes, over which he
bounded into the ring, flinging his Spanish hat high into the air.